Daycare Update 2024 plans

On the first time a new couple meets in the DayCare, the following algorithm is run to establish their compatibility: After establishing that the couple is compatible, the following algorithm determines how compatible they are: Got all that so far? We're almost done, now it's time for Special Cases - this is what triggers the "This couple may produce something unexpected!" notice. Almost done! Now for Dynamic Modifiers. While the above is fixed after an initial meeting, the following modifiers take real-time effects into consideration.

The DayCare code is about 700 lines of "if... else if... else if..." for every possible Variant. Some cases are even duplicated: hybrid Variants across egg groups need to be checked on initial meeting and again when evaluating special cases! I will be restructuring this into something more rigorous, well-defined, and easier to maintain. This has the added bonus that Unown and cross-egg-group hybrid Variants will be able to benefit from the OT bonus because they'll be evaluated sooner! They will also benefit from "species similarity" modifiers, rather than just being assigned a random value in some range. There will, however, be an additional "parent is Legend" compatibility penalty to make such Variants a little harder to produce (upside: less non-Variant egg spam, relatively!)

At this time, compatibility is evaluated once on initial meeting, and then never again. But circumstances can change, the most obvious one being Pokémon that evolve. In some cases this can drastically change the expected compatibility, but they will instead just retain the one they had initially. After the update, compatibility will be recalculated on every meeting. To give an example: - An Eevee and a Growlithe meet and have a certain compatibility. - Later, the Eevee evolves into a Flareon. This should increase compatibility, as their Types now match, and they become more similar in size. - If the Growlithe evolves into Arcanine, the size difference becomes quite considerable, which should lower compatibility by a couple points. Under the current system, this couple would have entirely different values depending on where in the sequence they actually meet in the Daycare. With the new system they will be updated correctly, it won't matter that they met before evolving, they benefit from present-day compatibility. Instead of the Pokémon being of the same species or evolution family causing a fixed value and skipping the rest of the compatibility calculation, it will apply +10 SC if they are the same species, or +8 SC if they are in the same evolution family. This means that two individuals of the same species - who would automatically get the full 26 SC from everything matching up - will have a base compatibility of 36 SC while members of the same evolution family (but at different stages) can get up to 34 SC if the evolution is a relatively minor change, but it allows for some interesting angles such as a Flareon and Glaceon being less compatible than a Flareon and Jolteon due to the type matchup (although due to evolution family relation, Flareon + Glaceon will still be +8 SC compared to Flareon with any other Ice-type) The RNG component of the compatibility calculation will be completely removed. No more hunting for the perfect partner - this feature did nothing but cause frustration for players seeking to eke out the last few percentage points. Nature will be added to compatibility calculations: - If the Pokémon have a shared preference in their Natures, +8 SC - If the Pokémon have a shared dislike in their Natures, +6 SC - These effects stack: if they are the exact same Nature, +14 SC total. The OT bonus will no longer stack with itself. Only one Pokémon needs to be from a different OT for best results of +20 compatibility. Note that receiving two Pokémon from the same OT won't get this bonus - the OTs have to be different, but this change makes it so that one of the OTs can be you. No more needing to trade a pair to another player to have them pair them for you! Ditto will be treated as "same species" for the purpose of compatibility calculations, but will continue to have halved effective breeding rates like it currently does. Still, this represents a significant overall buff. This means that the maximum base compatibility of a pair will be two individuals of the same species (or anyone with Ditto) having the same Nature, yielding 80% compatibility. Yes this is lower than the current max of 99%. I know. But the maximum is easier to attain, involves less frustration and busywork, and crucially no longer has an RNG factor. Don't worry, the Dynamic Modifiers are where the buffs are!

First things first, if the dynamic modifiers bring a couple to over 100% compatibility, then the "excess" will become a chance of a double breeding chance. This can yield "twin eggs", and such a twin will be referenced on the Summary page, under the parents. Imagine the rarity value of a pair of Twin Shinies, and beyond! In order to make this a realistic possibility, I am aiming to balance the dynamic modifiers to max out to about a 2x multiplier to the base compatibility - under optimal circumstances this should give a 60% Twin chance! To that end... - Low level / level gap modifiers aren't changing. - Happiness modifier will be based on the fourth-root, not the log-10, of happiness, and scaled so that "default happiness" (70) is the fixed-point. Notably, this buffs a max-happiness couple from a +20% bonus to about a +38% bonus! - The Daycare Breeding Boost from Rank Rewards will be activated, adding a +20% bonus. - The V~Wave will affect compatibility. Cancelled.

Changes related to the Red Gigaremo have been removed.

A few tweaks to numbers that are just straight-up buffs to the whole Breeding system! - Currently, base DayCare adoption limit is 6. The expansion item given as a Rank Reward for 10% Dex completion is a x2.5 boost, and Hypermode is another 2x boost. This will be raised to a base of 10. (15=>25 with expansion, 12=>20 with just Hypermode, 30=>50 with both) - Party interactions will have a 1/3 chance to count double for progressing Breeding Cycles, meaning that on average it will take 48 Party interactions (instead of 64) to complete one (24 instead of 32 with the Red Gigaremo). This will be implemented as "number of batched interactions / 3", so a full party + showcase being clicked swiftly enough to have the results all show up at the same time, will always yield 16 steps (instead of 12). RNG will only apply if the number of batched interactions doesn't evenly divide by 3. This will greatly reduce variance, potentially even eliminating it! - Exclusives currently have between a 2% and 10% chance to successfully breed, depending on how many Seasons have passed since their release. This will be buffed and will range from 5% to 25% instead. - Variants can be produced in two ways: directly from Variant parents, or as first-generation Variants using their special breeding method. Both cases have a 10% chance of happening right now. I will be buffing first-generation Variants to 25%, to account for difficulties in Compatibility making suitable parent pairs.

These updates don't change the game balance, but they do make things a little more convenient. - You will be able to fill all empty slots in your Party with Eggs in a single action, rather than having to count as you adopt them one by one. - Assuming you have the Spyglass to identify different types of Eggs in your DayCare, you will have the option to release all of a certain type of Egg.

Information is good, right? - There will be an explanation of Variants (both Regional and PFQ-exclusive) and Alolan Vulpix will be cited as an example for the user to try. - The compatibility calculation will be broken down and presented in a tooltip for interested users to review so they might try to optimise their pairs. - Where possible, the DayCare will explicitly tell you what "unexpected" things might be bred, and how likely such outcomes are. This also applies to basic parallels like Miltank/Tauros! (There was recently a bug where the Magipede variant couldn't be bred due to a typo - if the information had been made visible, it would've been a lot more obvious what was wrong before the poor user bred 1000 Sizzlipede eggs before asking for help!)

- Code will be cleaned up, allowing "special cases" to be a little less "special" and benefit from modifiers like OT bonuses. - Compatibility will be recalculated every meeting. - Same Evolution Family is no longer a fixed value, but can vary depending on how "drastic" the change caused by evolution is. - No more RNG in compatibility calculations! - Nature will boost compatibility if they share a preference, or a dislike, or just straight-up have the same Nature. - OT bonus no longer stacks, allowing you to use your own Pokémon when making pairs (without having to trade them to a friend to have them pair for you) - Ditto will count as "same species" for any partner, due to Transform, resulting in better compatibility than it currently gets. - Maximum possible base compatibility will be 80%, but will be easier to attain due to RNG removal and OT simplification. Note that with the activation of the Daycare Breeding Boost item, this already brings compatibility up to 96%. Stacking all bonuses together can get 159%, so it's definitely not bad! - A modified compatibility of more than 100% will take the "excess" as a probability to yield a Twin Egg, which will be connected on the Summary Page below the parents. - Happiness modifier is getting buffed (max result increased from +20% to +38%) - Base adoption limit is raised from 6 to 10, with boosted values scaling accordingly. - Party interactions will progress Breeding Cycles 33% faster. - Exclusives and (first-generation) Variants will be about 2.5x easier to breed. - You will be able to quick-fill your Party with Eggs, or release all of a particular type of Egg from the DayCare. - Various pieces of information will be added, or made clearer.

What about variant pokemon that DON'T have a special breeding method? I'd really like to have a more than 10% chance per egg to breed a deinglitch, when I get around to it. Other than that, everything sounds super awesome. Thank you as always for the comprehensive breakdown, Niet!

It doesn't have a method yet, but it will... I might even add it in as part of this update, why not? :D